Retouch Varnish Question

[Virgil Elliott]

Originally Posted by Kimberly Dow

Virgil - you would wait 6 months even with Retouch? Or do you prefer not to use it?

Kim,

Ideally, I wouldn't use retouch varnish on my own work, but would wait at least six months and then apply the final varnish. If I were to use retouch varnish, it would not be before the painting had had adequate time to dry, i.e., at least two weeks.

Note that if you've used a slow-drying white, it could take a good long while for the paint to dry. I use lead-based whites, primarily those ground in linseed oil. This kind of white speeds the drying of all the paints it comes in contact with or is mixed with.

I know there is often a big rush to get a portrait finished and delivered by a deadline, and there might be a great temptation to varnish it before the paint is even dry, much less cured. I would advise against it. It would be better to deliver the portrait without varnish, and arrange to varnish it some months later. A layer of varnish over wet oil paint will interfere with the drying of the paint, by restricting the amount of oxygen that can reach it.

Virgil Elliott

[Karin Lindhagen]

What a relief to learn that more people than I have this problem with retouch varnish that will not dry. For some reason, the first layers seem to dry much more slowly than the last ones on the same painting. The last layers will generally dry in a week, while the first layers might take several months. But next time, I will try the advice to heat up the room. In order to avoid dust I often leave the paintings to dry in a unheated room that is not being used. That might just be the problem!

Every now and then I paint the next layer even though the retouch varnish is not quite dry yet, and after a while it is hard to tell wether it is the paint or the varnish that is not drying. But I do believe the varnish is to blame, really.

Not long ago I made the mistake of applying the next layer of retouch varnish before the last layer of paint was quite dry. Disaster! All the turp in the retouch varnish made the last layer of paint dissolve into some kind of mist-looking mess. Thank heavens the client was a sweet man, full of confidence that I would sort it all out during the next painting session...

[Michele Rushworth]

In order to avoid dust...

One way to minimize this problem is to lean the painting against the wall, facing the wall, as it's drying. That way its surface is slightly tilted down and away from whatever dust is circulating around the room. Do this only after the varnish has set somewhat, or it will run down the painting. Leave the painting flat for a while, depending on how runny the varnish is, and then after a while, lean it against the wall.

[Karin Lindhagen]

That is a good idea, Michele, thanks! I believe most of the dust (or rather, dog's hairs and little hairs from wooly sweaters) gets there while the varnish is still very runny and the painting has to lie on its back. But after the varnish has settled a little, tilting the painting face down will be a good help so I can keep the painting in a heated room as the varnish dries completely. How silly that I never thought of it.

[Richard Budig]

Good grief!!!

How much retouch varnish are you using? I've used retouch varnish for years, and never had it remain wet.

I do not mean to sound like I'm preaching, here, but this stuff is meant to be spritzed on very lightly. It is (for me, anyway) used to bring up the values to the way they all look when the paint is wet. Use no more than that.

My retouch spritzing dries in a very short time -- usually in minutes.

Use very little of this stuff. It is mostly turp, and will dissolve paint.

[Kimberly Dow]

For anyone interested....

I ordered some Dorland's wax and used it today in some Retouch. I use the bottled retouch, not the spray.

I am VERY pleased with the results.

I was concerned because when I melted the wax, it didnt melt runny like I thought it would. I mixed it into the retouch, and mixed, and mixed some more....and there were still small pieces of wax kinda floating around. I decided to try it on an older piece anyway because the pieces seemed to blend in as soon as my brush picked them up. It looked great - gave a nice even sheen that is more matte than it is shiny.

I also used a cheap black foam brush today for the first time. It worked wonderful. Ive never found a decent varnish brush that didnt lose hairs while varnishing.

I agree with Virgil that if you dont have to use retouch it is best to wait, but I have a couple pieces going out to shows that had uneven shiny vs. matte areas and Ive never had much luck with oiling taking care of that completely. So, since it was too early to do a final varnish - this has done the trick.

Now I just need to find a better area to do this in. Im fairly certain I lost a few brain cells today while varnishing. Im not sure I have any extras to spare, so I best shape up.

[Marcus Lim]

Originally Posted by Kimberly Dow

I ordered some Dorland's wax and used it today in some Retouch. I use the bottled retouch, not the spray. I am VERY pleased with the results.

???
What's Dorland's wax, and what's it for? Can you please enlighten me Kim?

[Cindy Procious]

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

One way to minimize this problem is to lean the painting against the wall, facing the wall, as it's drying. That way its surface is slightly tilted down and away from whatever dust is circulating around the room. Do this only after the varnish has set somewhat, or it will run down the painting. Leave the painting flat for a while, depending on how runny the varnish is, and then after a while, lean it against the wall.

And, for heaven's sake, keep the cats out of the room!

[Peggy Baumgaertner]

I'm a little late to this ball game, but wanted to toss in another angle. No one has mentioned the ground, which is where I've had tackiness problems.

If you buy a pre-gessoed canvas and you get the end of the roll, sometimes you can get a pooling of oiliness. It almost looks like big blotches of linseed oil have dripped on the canvas. It is impossible to see these oily areas until you have started the painting. They are visible because the paint dries extremely slowly and in a semi-oval pattern. (The first time I encountered this, It was on a Governor's portrait...not where you want to get a trial by fire like this one...).

The paint took over a year to dry into these areas, and dried in a tree-ring pattern, working from the outside in.

Now that I have spotted this defect, I've been able to see it in others canvases. You can "fix" it when you recognize it by rubbing the surface with mineral spirits before you start painting, removing all the excess dried linseed oil from the surface.

Unfortunately, if you have already finished the painting, it cannot be fixed. I ended up scraping the Governors portrait, and starting again. (...and yes, it had already been delivered...)

BTW, I've been using a variety of retouch varnishes over the past 22 years, and have never had a problem with tackiness that you describe. The primary problems with retouch, is if you apply it on fresh paint (paint less than a day old), the retouch varnish can cause your painting to dissolve and run down the canvas. If you use too much retouch varnish too often on the canvas, the surface become hard and brittle. I've never had a problem with tackiness that could be attributed to retouch varnish.

[Janel Maples]

Thank you for the warning, Peggy.

This may sound like a stupid question, but is this problem only for an oil primed support? You mention the "fix" by getting rid of the excess dried linseed oil in the pre-gessoed canvas but before I safely assume that this doesn't happen with acrylic primed I thought I should ask.

Thanks, for figuring this out for us, but sorry you had to find out the hard way. I guess a positive way to look at it is you probably have saved many future portraits because of it.

If that makes you feel any better.

??